After lung cancer, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year worldwide, and The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2004, over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer (Stages I-IV), and about 40,000 women and almost 500 men will die from breast cancer in the United States in 2004.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer that affects men, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the Western world. Because prostate cancer is an androgen-sensitive tumor, androgen withdrawal, for example via castration, is utilized in some therapeutic regimens for patients with advanced prostate cancer. Androgen withdrawal leads to extensive apoptosis in the prostate tumor, and hence to a regression of the disease. However, castration-induced apoptosis is not complete, and a progression of surviving tumor cells to androgen-independence ultimately occurs. This progression is the main obstacle to improving survival and quality of life, and efforts have therefore been made to target androgen-independent cells. These efforts have focused on non-hormonal therapies targeted against androgen-independent tumor cells, however as of a 1998 report, no non-hormonal agent had improved survival. Oh et al., J. Urol 160: 1220-1229 (1998) Alternative approaches are therefore indicated.
Ovarian cancer is the seventh most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of death after lung and bronchus, breast, and colorectal cancers among U.S. women. A woman's risk of getting ovarian cancer during her lifetime is about 1 in 58. The risk of getting this cancer and dying from it is 1 in 98.
Colorectal cancer, a diagnosis which comprises both cancer of the colon and the associated rectal region, is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
Standard treatments for these various cancers include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal therapies. Each of these treatments has drawbacks including surgical risks, illness and loss of productivity associated with radiation or chemotherapy, reproductive and hormonal side effects, and unreliable survival rates.
Thus cancer is a serious disease, fatal in many cases, and requires improved treatments to reduce fatalities and prevalence.
Clusterin or “TRPM-2” is a ubiquitous protein, with a diverse range of proposed activities. In prostate epithelial cells, expression of clusterin increases immediately following castration, reaching peak levels in rat prostate cells at 3 to 4 days post castration, coincident with the onset of massive cell death. These results have led some researchers to the conclusion that clusterin is a marker for cell death, and a promoter of apoptosis. On the other hand, Sertoli cells and some epithelial cells express high levels of clusterin without increased levels of cell death. Sensibar et al., (1995) [1] reported on in vitro experiments performed to more clearly elucidate the role of clusterin in prostatic cell death. The authors used LNCaP cells transfected with a gene encoding clusterin, and observed whether expression of this protein altered the effects of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), to which LNCaP cells are very sensitive. Treatment of the transfected LNCaP cells with TNFα resulted in a transient increase in clusterin levels for a few hours, but these levels had dropped by the time DNA fragmentation preceding cell death was observed.
United States published patent application US 20030166591 discloses the use of antisense therapy which reduces the expression of clusterin for the treatment of cancer of prostate and renal cell cancer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,808 discloses compositions, particularly oligonucleotides, and methods for modulating the expression of clusterin.
United States published patent application 2004096882 discloses RNAi therapeutic probes targeting cancer associated proteins including clusterin.
United States published patent application US2004053874 discloses antisense modulation of clusterin expression.
United States published patent application US 2003166591 discloses cluserin antisense therapy using an oligonucleotide having 2′-O-(2-methoxy)ethyl modifications.
United States published patent application US 2003158130 discloses the use of chemotherapy-sensitization and radiation-sensitization of cancer by antisense clusterin oligodeoxynucleotides.